


[C] The Challenge of Tomorrow

by OneofWebs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, Communication, F/M, Finn is a Jedi (Star Wars), Getting Together, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-22 23:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23001814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneofWebs/pseuds/OneofWebs
Summary: Palpatine is dead, but that doesn't mean anything is over. In fact, it's far from over. Now in charge of overseeing the rest of the galaxy's recovery, Poe is quite sure how to deal with the burden. Finn is finding out he might be force sensitive. And Rey can't quite fathom the fact that she's found a place in the universe for herself. Putting their heads together, they might just find a way to move past it.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Poe Dameron/Finn, Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey, Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mutalune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutalune/gifts).



> Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
> 
> Hope you enjoy! First star wars fic ever.

Endings were never truly the end, and that was the problem with them. They were just a point on the road that felt significantly more finite than all the other points had felt. A turning point, but never truly the _end_. Emperor Palpatine may have been dead, but that didn’t mean the road stopped abruptly and there was no more work to do. News took time to travel, and in that time, there were still people to free. There was still work to be done; there was _always_ more work to be done.

Thankfully, some of the most important things to be done first were the personal things. Before they could go about the impending, soul-crushing weight of saving the rest of the galaxy—the universe, while they were at it—they had to make sure that they were even ready for a task like that. They’d lost so many people along the way that it was hard to think that they would ever be ready for something like that, but the only way to even get there was to start trying.

Finn was going to make the first real, concerted effort towards doing anything of worth for himself. There were things that had happened that he wasn’t quite ready to talk about, but he could talk about _how_ they’d happened. He could remember feeling Rey die, and it weighed on him more than anything ever had. His past and the things that he’d seen were nothing in comparison to that crushing weight of knowing Rey was out there, dead. His friend. Someone he cared for so dearly.

Rey didn’t need to know about the connection part. It wasn’t quite time for Finn to go on a long-winded rant about how wonderful and improved his life had become with Rey in it. He didn’t know what it meant, himself, and he certainly didn’t expect Rey to be able to decipher it for him. However, without the context, he figured something amazing had happened. What did it take to feel the death of someone from as far away as they were? Were there other things that he could do that he didn’t know about? Rey was the only one left in the world who could answer that question.

It would be a lot like the blind leading the blind, but it was a stumbling road the Finn was desperate to take. He hoped Rey would walk it with him. It would be far more confusing if she didn’t, as Finn didn’t even know what was going on. For all he knew, it had just been a very strangely timed coincidence of shock, awe, and Rey dying. That would have been one impressive coincidence, but it was the only other explanation Finn could come up with that didn’t amount to _he didn_ _’t know_. It would be a learning experience for the both of them.

First, Finn just had the courage to actually go and _speak_ to Rey. Once, that wasn’t such a difficult prospect. Now? It seemed impossible. It seemed a greater task than taking on the First Order had been, and they’d been so horribly outnumbered that there had been no real reason for their solid victory. Even with the help that had come. Talking to Rey seemed like all of that was replaying, only twice over and simultaneously. It used to be so easy to talk to her. They were _friends._

That was the word Finn was using, anyway, until he could put a name on that strange tug in his chest when he thought about how he’d felt her _die_. That was a lot of weight for one person to carry around on their shoulders. It was even more weight to arbitrarily decide to put down on a whim of curiosity. Maybe Finn’s decision-making skill wasn’t his finest, but it was certainly getting a lot of use as he paced around the ship. He was about to bore a hole into the floor.

The only thing that _stopped_ his new hole in the floor was Poe’s sudden arrival, and not a second too late. Finn was not only going to re-purpose the floor for pacing, but he was about to make himself dizzy with it. It was stupid, but he was grateful when Poe stepped across the room to grab him by the shoulder.

“Hey—you alright?” Poe asked. His face was scrunched up like he was trying very hard not to laugh at how stupid Finn was being—if he had laughed, Finn wouldn’t have blamed him.

“I’m great,” Finn lied.

“There’s a hole in my floor.”

“What—there is not,” Finn frowned, because he’d actually looked down at the floor. It wasn’t possible to pace a hole in the floor, regardless of what he’d been telling himself.

“There is. Come on, before you knock yourself straight out. Let’s go.” Poe pointed off to the side, where there was a closed crate just waiting to be sat on.

Finn hoped up onto it, and then Poe followed. Once they were both as comfortable as possible, Poe took a deep breath and straightened out his back, cracking his neck in the process. It was like a warmup for a talk that he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to have. It could be an explosion he wasn’t prepared for—it was just a wait and see kind of moment.

“So, what’s wrong?” Poe asked.

“Everything,” Finn admitted. It was going to be an explosion, can of worms, sort of thing. Poe could tell.

“What kind of everything? Like there’s a hole in your sock kind of everything, or the world’s about to end and no one told me kind of everything?”

“Worse,” because to Finn, it was. “I need to figure out how to talk to Rey.”

Poe looked at him, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. “Really? That’s it? Finn—you go up and you talk to the little lady, it’s not that hard.”

“But this is _important_. What if she thinks differently about me?”

So it was _that_. Poe mulled it over for a moment, having already assumed he knew exactly what Finn was talking about. To him, it was obvious. Finn was helplessly in love, and he didn’t know how to tell Rey. Poe knew them both well enough for that to make sense. Two people who were intelligent, yet extremely dumb. It was obvious that they would struggle to talk to each other about the finer things—things they weren’t so well-versed in. Thankfully, for them, Poe was an expert of many things, and his rates were cheap.

“Finn, my man, all you have to do is tell her. One thing women love is honesty. If you try to beat around the bush, you’re just going to turn her away.”

“That makes sense. What if she doesn’t like what I have to say?”

Poe shrugged. “Her loss, probably. Still, better to be honest than to build something on a lie.”

Finn knocked Poe with his elbow. “When did you get so grown up?”

“I am a man of many skills,” Poe boasted, resting his hand over his heart. “For your payment, I request one kiss on the cheek.”

Finn scoffed. “You try that on everyone?”

“Only on the people I like. Come on, just one,” Poe tapped his cheek with his finger.

Finn patted Poe’s cheek with his hand. “Thanks for the help. Maybe you’ll get a kiss later.”

Poe stared for a moment. He’d certainly been joking. He thought he was joking, anyway. Maybe he hadn’t been. The problem was where Finn didn’t sound, at all, like he was joking. That caught Poe a bit off guard, but there was no chance to ask. Finn was already leaving with a newfound sense of confidence. He was off to tell Rey that he loved her and good for him. Poe was happy for them, really. Even if his assumption had been so far off the mark he would have been embarrassed to be told otherwise; at least his advice still worked.

Finn went off surer of himself than he’d ever been. He’d tried lying to Rey once, and it hadn’t worked out as well as he’d hoped. That was a lifetime ago, when they first met. This was now. He didn’t _have_ to lie to her, anymore, because they were friends. They’d saved the galaxy together. That warranted a bit of honesty, every now and again. Now would be one of those times. He could only hope that she’d listen to him.

As he walked, he rehearsed what he was going to say in his head. He was going to tell her about how he was sure that he’d felt something, but he hadn’t been sure what it was. He’d been experiencing that more or less quite frequently, even if that one particular moment was the most intense it’d ever been. He was going to ask for her opinion: what she thought about the situation. If she didn’t think anything of it, then he’d drop it. If she _did_ think something of it, then he’d see where they went from there. Entirely under her direction, because he valued her opinion and guidance.

When he saw Rey, everything went right out the window. All of his planning went straight out the airlock, and Finn turned into a stupider version of himself. He should not have listened to Poe. This was a stupid plan. A stupid idea. He was stupid. This was stupid. And Rey was turning around to look at him, and _she_ certainly wasn’t stupid.

“Hello, Finn,” she said, far too brightly happy. “Did you need something—”

“I think I’m a jedi,” Finn rushed out. Smooth. Mission accomplished.

“I’m sorry—your what?” she looked at him like she was about to laugh, relatively shocked. He didn’t blame her.

“I—that’s not what I meant to say,” Finn admitted.

“Oh? I’m sure I heard you say that you think you’re a jedi. What word did you confuse for that?”

Finn sucked in a breath. “I meant that I had a better way to go about saying that. But yeah. That’s what I meant,” he sighed. She’d caught him, and she’d laughed.

Rey had a wonderful laugh, but that was the one thing Finn wasn’t going to think about. He was going to think about this from the most logical standpoint he could. She was laughing _at him_ , after all, because he’d come rushing up to her like he had some grand important thing to say and then made a fool of himself. He should be angry, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t be, not when Rey was gesturing for him to come and sit by her. He certainly couldn’t convince himself that her laugh had been out of malice when she looked so genuine.

She as _curious_ , too. She wanted to know what had led Finn to think that, and he didn’t have anything more to say than he’d planned. He had this vague _feeling_ thing going on, and he thought that it might be similar to what Rey could do. He didn’t want to use details. He wasn’t ready to look Rey in the eye and tell her that he’d felt her die, and it’d crushed him more than their then-inevitable defeat would have. Even winning wouldn’t have been the same if Rey hadn’t come through the crowd.

“It’s hard to say without really knowing for myself,” Rey said, when Finn finished. “I don’t really think I’m qualified to make these sort of calls.”

“You’re the only one left,” Finn laughed. “I think that makes you qualified whether you are or not.”

“No pressure or anything.”

“No! No, of course not—”

“Finn, relax,” Rey put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m only joking. Has this really gotten you this wound up?”

Finn gave a defeated nod. Apparently, it had. He didn’t even realize that it’d gotten to him so badly, but he could feel the rough beating of his heart, already. This was absolutely ridiculous, but Rey had nothing but sympathy for him. The spot where her hand rested was _warm_ , and Finn could feel the gentle squeeze of her fingers.

“We’d need to talk to Poe, first,” Rey said, suddenly standing. “Since he’s in charge of this whole thing now, I figure we probably can’t go running off without permission. I don’t think he’ll give us any trouble, mind you, but it would be rather rude not to ask. And then we’ll need to—”

“Wait, wait,” Finn stood up after her. “What are you talking about? Where are we going?”

Rey turned and looked at him, scoffing like he was a fool. “We can’t test you out on the ship. Somebody is bound to get hurt if we do. I thought we might take a quick trip off to a planet where we _won_ _’t_ be hurting anyone.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

Rey was already walking off, and Finn had to dash to catch her. He hadn’t expected her to be so into this. He’d honestly expected her to think that he was stupid or jumping to a strange conclusion—anything other than an immediate jump to testing out what he could do with built in safety nets.

“Now, if I remember right, there is just such a thing as being force-sensitive,” Rey explained. “That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a jedi, but I have a good feeling about this.”

“Wait, you do?”

“Of course, I do,” Rey laughed. “Did you think I’d be so ready to test this out if I didn’t? Please, Finn. This is exciting.”

Finn couldn’t help the silly little smile that grew up on his lips. Rey was excited about it, so _he_ was going to be excited about it. He hadn’t been excited about it before, mostly just nervous, but now—Rey was excited. Rey was excited about him. Maybe he was going to let himself read into that, but this was going so well. It allowed him to just relax and take his mind off of how nervous he’d been. Even if he wouldn’t be able to move things with his mind or use a lightsaber, being able to have this time with Rey would be worth it.

Finding Poe shouldn’t have been a difficult task, as Finn had just been talking to him. Poe could apparently move faster than they thought, as it took a few moments to hunt him down. Once they had, it was discussion time. Rey had to make a good case for why they needed to leave so soon after they’d all reunited. It wouldn’t be an easy case to make, but surely, if she worked the angles where this would be beneficial for all of them, especially in the future, then Poe would listen to reason.

Poe listened, at least. He listened as Rey went on a long-winded explanation of where they were going, why there were going, how they would get there, and why it was a good thing to let them do. The last part was keenly important, as it would be the make or break on if they got to leave, or not. Realistically, Poe trusted them both enough that this entire conversation was probably less than necessary, but Rey wanted to have it, anyway. It was just as much validation as it was self-justification.

Rey knew how important it was that they continue their work. The war didn’t end with the death of Palpatine, and she knew that better than anyone. However, there was something to be gained from the preservation of this way of life, especially if that meant that it would change for the better. It had no choice but to change, as Rey wasn’t entirely well-versed in how it’d been before. She knew enough to know what evil it had helped in breeding, and that she didn’t want to continue that legacy.

There was no one better to help her preserve a new legacy than Finn. He’d seen and experienced firsthand the consequences of that evil, in a way that many people hadn’t. That made him invaluable—it always had. But for this? Rey couldn’t have imagined a better partner.

“No,” Poe said. He hadn’t even given proper time to think about it.

“What? Why?” Rey pressed. “You can’t just say _no!_ _”_

“I can, and I did. In fact—oh. _No_.”

“Poe! At least, you have to tell me why.”

“We only just barely managed to survive the biggest fight of our lives,” Poe suddenly snapped. “Now you two want to run off to do _what_? It’s too dangerous. I need you here.”

“Come with us,” Finn chimed in. “Yeah! Why don’t you just come with us?”

“What?” Both Rey and Poe said, suddenly turning to look at Finn.

“Why not? If you’re so worried, just come with us to ensure we don’t die. Easy enough.”

“Did you not get the memo that I’m in charge around here?” Poe asked.

Finn shrugged. “Just appoint someone to watch out for it all while you’re gone. Leave your orders and stuff, whatever works.”

“That’s actually a great idea,” Rey agreed. “Come with us, Poe.”

“How did this happen?” Poe sighed, but he certainly wasn’t saying _no_. In fact, in so many words, Poe was _agreeing_ to go with them. It was going to take some preparation, so they couldn’t just hop in the Falcon and go, but they could start working towards it.

Preparation was the difficult part of taking the general of a resistance to some planet to supervise possible-jedi training. Poe couldn’t just up and leave as fast as they could, but Rey and Finn were willing to delay the trip if it would at least mean that they could _go_. Even if they could have gone without asking, the negative once they did ask had put a stopper in the whole thing. That really left the whole waiting for Poe to put together a solid plan in his absence as the only option they had.

It took Poe about a day to figure out what his solid plan was going to be and who it was going to involve. He was new to this. It wasn’t exactly always easier to just do things himself, but he trusted himself to do the job that needed to be done. Trusting others to do his job for him was a relatively new skill that Poe was still developing. If he’d had his own way, he would _still_ be picking out who would be in charge and what needed to go on while he was gone, but Finn and Rey were pushy.

Poe was the captain—the general—whatever his title was. He was in charge. He should have, theoretically, been able to tell Finn and Rey that they were running on his time, not their time. Apparently, for as fine as he was, he did have one fatal flaw. It was his giant soft spot for these two lunatics he’d chosen to call his friends. It was unreal the amount of stuff he was willing to let them get away with. They’d talked him into leaving his post to go run around and see if Finn was a jedi.

Didn’t that mean that’s what Finn had been talking about? He’d come after Poe to seek advice on how to tell Rey this ludicrous idea he had. That might be a little bit easier to deal with than what Poe had assumed was the inevitable snogging in the back of his ship. Not that he wouldn’t condone and support it, he just hadn’t been ready for it. Now, it didn’t seem like the inevitable conclusion. Not as much as it had, anyway. He was causing himself more grief than any new captain-general-thing needed to be suffering.

Finn and Rey had been preparing for the trip while Poe prepared for his own absence. That was _all_ they did, no matter how Finn had pressed that Rey go ahead and start testing him out, teaching him—whatever it came to. It wasn’t that Rey didn’t want to, it’s that she really didn’t know how. She didn’t want to say that out loud, just in case it would damage the extremely bright light that Fin seemed to see her in. But she wanted to approach it as similarly to how Luke had helped her. It was all she knew.

That involved being off a busy, stressful ship. If she was going to struggle with her own mind in the environment that they tended to live in, then Finn was surely going to. It wouldn’t help her grand ability to be able to blindly lead the blind, that was for sure. If she only knew how to properly explain that without Finn thinking less of her, it might have been easier on her.

Instead, it had turned into a day of gathering up supplies she was sure that they wouldn’t need just to keep herself busy. It was the best excuse that she could find to keep away from Finn, for the time being, until they were stuck on the Falcon together. But then, she and Poe would be in the cockpit throwing playful punches back and forth on the other’s flying ability. It was just tradition, and she felt that it needed to be honored.

Rey and Poe didn’t always get along, but she did like him. She admired him. He’d done a lot of good that other people wouldn’t have been able to hold themselves together for. He’d kept things running when everyone had been ready to give up and go home, accepting defeat at the hands of the First Order. Poe had never been alright with that, and because of that, Rey really found herself growing fond of him. He certainly had some strange mannerisms, and he wasn’t always the politest man, but he had good intentions that shone through brighter than any of that.

Really, if it hadn’t been for him, Rey was sure they would have lost to the First Order. If he hadn’t been so ready to charge headfirst against their foe, they’d have never led on that final march for victory. If he could do all of that and still have enough heart left to accept some soft teasing, then Rey was going to take up as much of that heart as she could.

When they had finally all three come together, it was time to actually _leave_ for their relatively deserted little planet. The ship was all packed, and all it needed were three passengers who were a little less than ready for an indeterminate length of time trip. They were still going to do it, because they didn’t really have much of an alternative with all of the preparation they’d gone through. However, now that the trip was _real_ , now that they were all ready to go and switching on thrusters, preparing for a jump, the nervousness set in.

They were really doing this. They were really leaving the resistance for some amount of time just to be able to test out if Finn could use the force or not. The end result, if Finn _was_ a jedi, would be amazing. It would be wonderful. Rey wouldn’t have to feel like she was entirely alone. The consequences if this failed weren’t exactly detrimental, but _still_. It was a big chunk of time they were taking out of the plan to go off and finish saving the rest of the galaxy.

“Alright, let’s see if leadership hasn’t killed your ability to fly,” Rey said.

“Yeah, you wish,” Poe snorted. “Let’s see if you haven’t gone soft.”

Rey shot him a smirk. “It’s been far less a time since I’ve flown a ship than you. Besides, you look properly comfortable standing around giving orders. Who’s to say you’re not better at that than you are flying?”

“And off we go,” Poe said, because there was no sense in demeaning himself with a response to that. They were still both laughing, and he had the main controls.

The comments were always in good fun. Rey respected Poe’s ability to pilot just as much as he respected hers, especially now. They were far past the proving aspect of their relationship. Now, it was just about fun and teasing and laughing. There was time for the serious matters, but it was not here, in this moment. It would be time either back with the resistance or forward, at their destination, when they had to get down to proper business.

Poe was only coming along to supervise, anyway, because he was secretly far too afraid of Finn and Rey never returning to let them come on his own. That was the sort of issue for another day, because he wasn’t ready to go through it. He was going to focus on piloting until that didn’t cut it, anymore. Then, he’d focus on watching the weird magic training until that didn’t work. By then, they’d be back with the rest of their group, and he’d have other things to focus on.

It was a lot of pressure he didn’t realize that he was under, and he wasn’t going to realize that for as long as he possibly good. He would just fly. Flying was easy, and it was familiar. He could do that. Even if it wasn’t a good idea. Rey could see the pressure in his shoulders, hunched up higher than they should be, but she didn’t say anything. Poe was old enough to sort himself out, but that certainly didn’t mean he was old enough to know how to. That was one of those skills that didn’t come with age, because it often wouldn’t come at all.

For the moment, they all hunkered down for the flight. It felt a bit like a premature vacation, yet not nearly as relaxing. The tension that lived between the three of them was far too great for the trip to be _relaxing_ , but it was better than living in the high-strung stress of fighting the greatest evil the world had ever known. In comparison, they might as well have been living on an island. It was far more appropriate than either Finn or Poe realized.


	2. Chapter 2

In light of the familiarity and how well the little island had worked out for Rey, relatively speaking, she’d chosen to take them halfway across the galaxy to the little backwater island where she’d found Luke Skywalker. It seemed like a lifetime ago, really, though in reality it hadn’t been nearly half as long. So much had happened since then, and they were things that Rey would have really rather forgotten. But this island wasn’t a font of bad memories and strife. It was peaceful.

They wouldn’t have to bother the locals, either. They wouldn’t have to travel too far from the Falcon, really. Just far enough that in case Finn accidentally discovered his abilities had a violent tendency—like Rey once thought hers had—the ship wouldn’t be damaged. The locals were peaceful, if not a bit unhappy with Rey’s entire existence, but it meant that there was no real reason to have to guard the ship, either. If Poe wanted to get up and wander around, or even join them for the strange magic training, he was more than welcome to.

“Wait, are we going to just get straight to it?” Finn asked. Rey was already disembarking from the ship with her staff in hand.

“I thought that’d be best. Do you really need a break after a flight?” she looked over her shoulder in disbelief.

“Well, no. Maybe? I’m just saying this is a bit fast.”

“Fast is best.”

Alright. Finn couldn’t really argue with that, and he _was_ following Rey. The fact that he was so willing to follow her didn’t exactly lend weight to his argument. But if he’d stayed in the ship, he wouldn’t even be having an argument—it wasn’t actually an argument, either. Rey would have just left him there, and he would have followed, eventually. Poe had teased him about following Rey around like a puppy, and honestly, he was right. They were friends. Finn was going to keep telling himself this was just what friends did.

“Wait, what about Poe?” Finn asked, then. That actually brought Rey to a stop.

“Did you ask if he wanted to come?”

“I could go back and—”

“No need,” Poe chimed in. He’d been following at a much more leisurely pace than either Rey or Finn knew how to take. “Figure I’ll stick with the ship. It looks like it’s about to start raining and, you know, I’d rather be inside. Don’t keep her out past ten, you hear?” he shook his finger at Finn.

Finn frowned. “Ha-ha. You’re very funny.”

“You can’t put a time limit on training,” Rey said, dumbly. The comment had flown right over her head, and that nearly had Poe laughing.

“Alright, alright. Have fun, kids. I’ll be here when you get back. Maybe cook up some dinner, who knows.” Poe scratched at his abdomen before disappearing back into the ship.

“Are you coming, then?” Rey called to Finn. “We really need to get a move on if you’d like to get started.”

Finn sighed. There really was no arguing with her, so he trotted on down the ramp and hit the grass to go after her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get started, it was just that he was nervous. Incredibly so. If this all turned out to be wrong, then he was going to disappoint them both. Which he didn’t want. Even more so, perhaps, he didn’t want Rey to find out the truth of how he’d come to this conclusion. It would be too much for him to take, right now, especially if her response wasn’t exactly positive.

He was being selfish, and he knew it. That didn’t stop him from keeping it up. Hopefully, it wouldn’t get in the way of whatever wringer Rey was going to put him through, but there was always something to be said for the grand foolery of expectations. His expectations were high. He was going to get right to work, give it his all, and find out that he was the next jedi. Rey wasn’t the last one. He was _also_ going to expect to be able to do that being as closed off as he was.

Nothing could go wrong.

Finn followed Rey through the terrain; she knew where she was going, and he did not. They ended up walking for what amounted to only a few minutes, as the island wasn’t very large, but it certainly felt like hours. The island was rocky, mountainous, even. There weren’t real paths, but Rey knew which ways to go and how to traverse. Finn just followed, taking her hand when he needed to. Helping her along when she needed it. They were quite the impressive team.

When they arrived at the place Finn could only assume Rey had intended to take him, there was nothing left in its wake but vegetation trying to recover from its charred remains. Rey’s lips parted open in a quiet gasp as she looked at the carnage, like she truly had expected something more to be there. Finn just looked at her, an urge coursing through his arm to reach out and comfort her, somehow. Instead, he did nothing of the sort.

“Are you alright?” Finn asked. It might have worked better to actually take hold of her shoulder to ground her, but he couldn’t find the strength to move.

“I’m fine,” She replied. “I’m just shocked, I think. I wasn’t expecting this. Last I was here there was a—” she trailed off, gesturing to the area out in front of them. “A tree sort of thing, you know? Luke said it was something like the first Jedi Temple. It had all of these old texts. I wouldn’t have made you read them, but I thought it’d be a place to start.”

“Oh.” Finn looked from Rey to the charred grass. If he looked hard enough, he could see what she was talking about. Like a feeling. And the remains of the tree were still there, even if they were near unrecognizable. Now that he knew what they were, he could see more of it. He didn’t understand the significance, but he could still see the way it had meant something to Rey. It was best to keep his own thoughts to himself and let her have her moment.

Her moment lasted for a few silent minutes before she decided it was time for them to go elsewhere. She didn’t say much, just gestured off to the right that they would keep walking. Finn figured her silence had been something out of respect, as her demeanor picked right back up as they walked towards the second spot she had in mind. Finn followed her in relative silence, climbing where he needed to, going down, around. Lots of rocks and lots of grass.

They went through a cave, and through that cave, they went to a slight outcropping of rocks like a cliff. They overlooked the water and came complete with a place to sit to provide the perfect view. This had been where Luke took her that very first time, and she hoped that it would do for Finn what it’d done for her. Part of it had been Luke, and she knew that. Rey just hoped she’d be half as patient and half as wise. Unspoken, but she had expectations for this, as well. High expectations. She didn’t want to be the last jedi.

“Alright, go ahead and sit here,” Rey said. “You start with meditation.”

“Meditation. That sounds easy enough.” Finn shrugged. Rey just smiled at him as he pulled himself up onto the rock. He got himself comfortable, legs folded and hands in his lap, then looked to Rey for instruction.

She’d come around to stand directly in front of him. Not three steps back would have sent her tumbling into the water, but she knew how to handle herself better than that. She wasn’t going anywhere, and the cliff seemed rather safe. They could spend here all day, or at least until their hunger got the better of them and hope for some sort of result.

“What now?” Finn asked.

“Now, you close your eyes. You’ll need to focus on _feeling_. Since that’s what started you here, I don’t think it should be too hard.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one trying to do it.”

“That’s because I’ve already done it.” She grinned.

Alright. Finn wasn’t going to argue with that, because she was right. He was going to just focus on focusing. Finn didn’t really have much of an inkling on what that meant, but he was going to at least try. He closed his eyes and sucked in one deep breath, which he held, before letting it out in a puff. He’d just assumed that meant that everything and anything that would hold him back was just gone, now. He felt relaxed. He felt like he could do this. He _knew_ he could do this.

And nothing happened. He sat there, focusing on focusing on feeling for minutes, and nothing happened. He focused on his breathing, on the breeze, on _anything_ that wasn’t just a constant thrum of how Rey was right there. He could feel her more than he could feel any force, and that was the worst part about it. He wasn’t willing to believe that feeling didn’t come from something deeper, but it was standing in the way of finding something deeper. And he didn’t know how to get past it.

He just kept trying. He kept focusing. His eyes were closed tight, his hands clenched. Nothing. _Nothing_. He felt nothing. He couldn’t see anything. There was no _force_ , whatever that even meant. There was no _anything_. Just him and Rey, and whatever this loud beating sound was between them. His heart, Finn supplied helpfully. His heart was beating inside of his ears the longer this went on and the more stressed it was making him. He’d had so many expectations for himself, and so far, he was failing at _all_ of them.

It must have been an hour of struggling before Rey reached out for him, finally, to tell him it was time to stop. They both knew just how poorly that had failed, and it _hurt_ more than it needed to. Especially the look on Rey’s face, as if she already lacked half the patience Luke had tried with her. Like one failure and she was already sure this wasn’t going to work. There wasn’t even that much riding on the success, and still, it felt like this had to work out the way she wanted it to, or it’d be for nothing.

“We should head back to the ship,” Rey said. “I’m sure Poe has made something for us to eat. We could use the energy.”

“Rey—” Finn said, but stopped short. She stared at him, eyes wide. There were strands that hung loose around her face, freed from her ties, that blew strangely in the breeze. “I’m sorry,” he said.

She offered the best smile that she could. “Nothing to apologize for. We need only try again, once we’ve had something in our stomachs, yes? Let’s get back to the Falcon.”

She didn’t take _no_ for an answer, as was her style. She didn’t even wait for Finn to agree before she started walking back towards the ship. She knew Finn would follow, and he did. He just took a bit longer than he might have otherwise have. He needed the single moment to himself, to stand at the edge of that cliff and look over the water and _wonder_ just what it was he was missing. Maybe he wasn’t missing anything. Maybe he was just too caught up on something else to give this the proper focus that it needed.

He’d have to tell her, eventually. If not now, then when? After dinner, maybe. Rey was right. They needed something in their guts for that surge of energy, and when he had it, maybe he’d be brave enough to talk to her. If he didn’t talk to her, he had a feeling—hilariously enough—that he was never going to fully realize whatever it was he came here to fully realize.

Eventually, he went after Rey. It took a bit to catch up to her, but once he did, they returned to the Falcon in silence. Poe had, indeed, made something to eat for dinner. Instead of utilizing the abundance of supplies they had, he’d made a homey little fire just underneath the ship where he’d roasted up freshly trapped porg. It was the promise of a good meal, from the smell, even if the guilt left something to be desired.

They ate in relative silence, enjoying the patter sound of rain against the Falcon. It was strangely peaceful, despite the chill of the breeze. The ocean was calm, despite the weather, and it made for a pleasant view while they all sort of stewed in awkward silence. It was the most peaceful moment they’d had since they left the larger group. A strange thing, to realize just how wound up they’d all been. All it took was some rolling waves and roasted porg to see it.

When the meal was finished, neither Rey nor Finn were really excited to go straight back to work. After their utter failure, there was a resounding reluctance between them to go any farther, lest they face more of that failure. Rey would stew in her own inadequacy as a teacher. She hadn’t exactly thought the world of Luke when they began, but it’d been something. He at least had experience. Rey didn’t have anything, and if this turned out to be a false alarm, it would be easier to blame herself for it than to consider the fact that maybe Finn had just misunderstood his own feelings.

Finn knew the truth, though. He knew he hadn’t misunderstood anything. If he was ever going to break past what he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, he had not misunderstood, he was going to have to talk to Rey. He wasn’t going to be able to talk to Rey if he couldn’t sort himself out, and there was no one better to talk to than Poe. Maybe there were real reasons for that, but the one Finn was focused on was that Poe was just here. There would be no talking to the walls to sort himself out.

There was just the problem of bringing it up. Finn was sure he was thinking far too much about things that didn’t matter, but he hadn’t actually had a conversation with Poe that _didn_ _’t_ revolve around himself and Rey. That didn’t seem very fair, especially with everything else that was going on. He would give Poe a lot of credit for holding himself together, but obviousness wasn’t the only indicator that something could be going on. If Finn wasn’t going to be spending the night cross-legged on a rock, then maybe he could spend it somewhere else.

Poe’s mind hadn’t taken a break since he was born. Of that, he was sure. Life had never been easy, and he’d always had a knack for getting himself into situations he probably had no business being in. That had led him to the resistance, which had led him to a significant increase in numbers of near-death experiences. Which led to an increase of stress, of course, and ever since then—Poe really hadn’t found a moment to rest. He was sure that he hadn’t found one now.

The island may have been peaceful, but Poe wasn’t ready to let himself be lulled into a false sense of peace. There was too much to worry about. It was the paradox of fatigue: the best thing to do when one was tired was to just keep going. If he sat down for too long, if he let himself think that things were alright for too long, he may lose all sense of urgency and all ability to ever get back up again. As much as it wore on the joints and the psyche to just keep going, it was the only option he had.

Perhaps the worst of it was that he’d never let anyone _know_ that this was what rode on his shoulders. It was a heavy weight, and he didn’t really want anyone else to offer to carry it with him. He was the leader, now, the general. It was his job to carry it all and to keep everything in line. Leia had always kept a level head. If he was going to be even half of a worthy successor, he had to keep himself composed and together at all times.

He’d missed the way support was vital. Even Leia hadn’t been alone at her darkest hours, her brightest. It was all about finding the proper time and proper place for things; Poe wasn’t quite so seasoned a leader. He’d either been a part of the team or the leader of a small team, but never the face of a cause. It was different, and with all things different, there was a learning curve. A steep learning curve, in Poe’s case, where he was ready to block it all away and just pretend this wasn’t nearly as hard as it felt.

Even now, where he could have spent the moments after their meal sitting around the dying fire and talking, he’d gone off as if he had something important to do. He didn’t. Not really. There wasn’t anything important to do on this island except get some rest, which he’d been sorely lacking since this all began anew. Even now, resting felt like a disservice to the people they’d lost and the people they’d yet to really save. Even if all he could find to do were check the systems of a ship he knew was _fine_ , it was still better than letting himself have a moment of rest when no one else could take one.

He wasn’t allowed to his solitude for long, and one day, he might even be thankful for the persistence of those closest to him. Finn had joined him inside of the Falcon, and while the impending conversation might have been better outside where the air was better, the atmosphere was calmer, there was no getting Poe to step away from things he thought were necessary and expected. He may have had those aspects to his personality that were carefree, Poe still had an undying sense of duty.

“We might all feel better if we were outside,” Finn said. “Kinda stuffy in here, don’t you think?”

“I have things to do,” Poe replied, but it was clear that he wasn’t doing anything of real import. Finn was noble enough not to bring that up. But there was one thing he wasn’t going to let slide.

“You look like you’ve aged fifteen years in about ten minutes. You alright?” Finn really had wanted to jump into his own problems, but it was hard to ignore the dark circles under Poe’s eyes.

“I’m fine.”

Finn nearly laughed, but it came out more like an unimpressed scoff. “You’re clearly not. Come on, sit down. You can take five minutes to talk with a friend, can’t you? What if it’s important?”

That shouldn’t have worked as well as it did, but with one question, Finn had Poe sitting down around the chess table. The second Poe sat down, it was like an entire weight had just disappeared from his shoulders. He let out a hefty sigh before leaning into the back of the seat, resting his neck on the top of it. It was like Poe hadn’t sat down just to sit down in days, weeks. He’d sat, but there was always something to do. A ship to fly, a plan to make. Something, something, something. Poe was always doing something.

“You look rough, man,” Finn said. “That’s all I’m trying to say.”

Poe had meant to say something snappy, something funny. Something like that wasn’t a very nice thing to say to the leader of a resistance. Looking rough was just a part of the job. That wasn’t anywhere close to what actually came out of his mouth, which was a whole load of weight that he hadn’t _ever_ wanted to share. It was so hard not to share when Finn was there, willing to listen. He couldn’t pass this up, even if the weight of it had him physically leaning on the table for support.

He talked about how _horrible_ it was. There were so many expectations, and half of those he’d placed on himself, anyway. There was so much to do, so much to think about. It wasn’t the same as leading a small squadron on an attack. That was a plan from within a plan that already had players, goals, and tasks. Now that Poe was the one designing the players, goals, and tasks for _everything_ , it was so much more difficult. The worst part of it was, he didn’t even know if he was doing a good job.

It was too soon to know if he was doing a good job. They weren’t exactly leading any fine battles, and anyone who’d known him knew that that was one of his specialties. He was learning how to reel back and make the hard decisions, but he could only make as many of them as there were. And how did one even ask if they were doing a good job being the new appointed leader of a resistance? Would others even be comfortable answering a question like that?

His current good versus bad as a leader probably didn’t even matter. As long as they could get to their end goal with minimal causalities and heartache, then it was fine. However, that felt like such an apathetic way to look at what they still had next to do—and what did they have next to do? Was it really enough to travel the galaxy in search for the left-over remnants of the First Order and liberate people from them? Did that not just truly, in the end, mean for more fighting? These were the decisions he had always just assumed Leia made with ease.

Now that he thought about it, maybe that was a stupid assumption. There was so much about the inner workings of the command that he’d never understood. Rightfully, as he’d never been a part of the true command. It was more than just knowing how to fly and knowing how to fight. It was knowing how to _lead_ , and there were times where Poe questioned his own abilities. Especially now. Before, he’d had Leia to guide him and pull him back when he needed it most. Now, it was just him and the command she’d left in the wake of her death. That wasn’t much to work with for a man who didn’t know how to work with it.

The future of the galaxy was essentially riding on their continued success, and everyone was looking to Poe to lead them to that continued success. What if he couldn’t do it? What if he thought he could, but made all of the wrong choices? What if he failed, regardless? What if he was the one who single-handedly brought everything they’d worked for to a crashing, horrible halt? It was a lot to think about, and he was thinking about all of it at the same time, constantly.

There was more that Poe wanted to say. Maybe even more that he _needed_ to say, but his energy drained out of him faster than it ever had just saying these things for the first time. He couldn’t muster another word and ended up just sighing before letting himself look at Finn for the first time since he’d started to ramble.

Finn was looking at him like he’d just been sucker punched: eyes wide and lips slightly parted. That was so much information for any one person to take in, and Finn had taken it all in stride. Even if it left him speechless and shocked, he’d still listened as closely as he could. He’d wanted to understand. He just hadn’t realized how much there was to understand or how much Poe really thought was riding on his shoulders. Finn needed the next moments to really just think of what to say, and in the meantime, he reached out and put his hand over Poe’s. Poe didn’t pull away.

“You’ve got a lot to think about, that’s true,” Finn said, slowly, contemplating his words as they formed. “You’re not alone, though. We’re all here for you. I mean—me, Rey, the whole crew. You don’t have to do all this planning stuff by yourself, and you really don’t have to go off and save the world by yourself.”

“Feels like I have to. I mean look what Leia did—”

“And look at all the help she had! She had Han and Luke and the support of all of those people. Maybe we’ve got less people now, but you’ve got me and Rey. You’ve got a lot of support out there. You have to rely on it.”

“It feels like I can’t,” Poe sighed, resting his head in his hands. “If I can’t do this alone then I’m too weak to do it at all.”

“That’s not true. It’s kind of stupid, too, if you think about it. It’s like you’re saying the people who came before you were weak because they needed help.”

“Hey—,” Poe shot him a glare, “that’s not what I mean.”

“It’s what you said though,” Finn grinned. “You got yourself up on a pedestal there, don’t you?”

“I do not. You’re being obnoxious on purpose, aren’t you?”

Finn nodded. “You’re just being too hard on yourself. You need to take a break. That’s kinda what we’re here for.”

“I thought we were here to see if you were magic.”

“Yeah, well. You can be here to relax. Enjoy the view.” Finn gave an awkward laugh. He’d only just realized that their hands were still pressed together on the table, and Finn didn’t have the heart to pull away. Poe didn’t seem to mind, and Finn was enjoying the spark of warmth.

“I guess I could. It just feels wrong, you know? There’s so much work to get done and so much to think about.”

Finn shook his head. “If you don’t rest, you’ll never have the energy to work on that stuff. You need a moment. We all need a moment—so we need to just take it. Go with it, you know? It won’t kill you,” Finn said with a laugh in his voice.

Poe cracked a smile, and that felt as close to success as they were ever going to get. It was at least an understanding that taking a rest was nothing to feel guilty about, especially not phrased how it was. Taking a rest was going to be what gave him the strength to return to their group and really face the realities of tomorrow as headstrong as he could. If he was too tired for that, then there was no point.

“Since we’re friends,” Poe suddenly said, “I’ll disregard all of that shit you talked. Thanks, though. I mean it. Maybe I’ll take a nap.”

“Yeah—before you do, could we talk about me for a second?” Finn gave a tentative grin.

Poe laughed. He really, genuinely laughed. He pulled his hand out from under Finn’s only to place it on top and give his fingers a tight squeeze. “Sure. Let’s talk about you.”

Finn took a moment of silence to just _stare_ at where their hands were touching. To think about all of the stuff they’d been through. It was a lot. And it was making everything more complicated.


	3. Chapter 3

It was sometime early in the morning when Finn mustered up his strength, slapped himself in the face a few times, and went off to find Rey. He was going to tell her. He was going to tell her everything, and that was going to be how things progressed and got either better or worse. In the end, it’d all be for the better, though. No matter what this did to the dynamic and the relationship, Finn was sure the end result would be worth whatever strife and heartache he put himself through.

At least, he was trying to keep positive about it. The truth was he didn’t _want_ to ruin everything that they’d built, but sometimes the greater good was more important than his own personal desires. He was sure that finding more jedis—force sensitive people, or whatever Rey had called it—was important for the greater good. He couldn’t imagine why it wouldn’t be important, anyway. Rey had been relatively desperate to find another one, so she must have believed this too.

All the more reason to just go and talk to her about this.

When he found Rey, she was already outside and on her own, taking advantage of the bright morning, the clear weather. Finn almost felt bad for disturbing her when he walked up to sit beside her, but she only reacted with a glance and a quiet greeting.

“You know,” she started, “there was a time where I thought I’d never see something like this again.”

“Yeah, me too. We made it, though.”

“We did.” Rey even smiled and let her eyes close.

“I thought you didn’t, for a bit,” Finn said. The best way to go for this was to just say it. Rip the bandage off. If he didn’t say it now, he never would.

His comment had gotten Rey’s attention, and she looked at him with slightly widened eyes.

“I should have told you from the start, but I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t really know what to say,” he sighed. “I still don’t, so I hope just saying it works. For a while back there, I thought you were dead. Like, I _knew_ you were dead. These weren’t just vague feelings I was working with. I _felt_ you die, Rey.”

Rey didn’t say anything; Finn only looked at her to ensure she was listening, and she was. Closely.

“I remember just how hopeless I felt. Empty. I don’t know—it was a lot, all at once, but the one thing that really stuck out was just how badly I hated it. I didn’t think I’d even have the strength to go on, knowing that, even if we won, we weren’t going to win with _you_. I was so happy to see you in the crowd, I just—I knew that if I ever let you go, again, I’d regret it forever.”

“Finn—”

“I don’t know what any of it means,” Finn said, quickly. They were both staring at each other now, and it was the first time Finn realized just how close they were. “I still don’t. I may never. But I needed you to know.”

“I’m glad you told me.” Her voice was so quiet it almost ached. She reached for him to rest her hand against his cheek, and he only ever remembered that feeling of warmth and tenderness _once_. It’d felt right, both times, and that was part of what made this so difficult.

There was a gravity between them that he’d never been able to explain, but now, he understood it better than he ever had. It was what drew them together, their lips nearly touching and their breath mingling. Finn put his hands around her face, her own fingers lingering on his cheek. They would never need to give this a name if it felt like this. It was too overwhelming, too perfect to really need a name.

“Is it a bad time to say I’ve felt this before?” Finn asked. “With Poe?”

Rey laughed. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” but she leaned forward to kiss him, anyway. Like it didn’t bother her.

There was such a surge of electricity when they finally, _finally_ kissed. It was like nothing he’d ever felt, the rush of warmth, of longing, _acceptance_. Whatever it was Rey had been talking about the day before, Finn could feel it, now. He’d let everything go, and the world spun beneath his feet in reward. He could feel everything, from the subtle shift as Rey moved against him to the brush of grass against his boots. It was remarkable in the most terrifying way, and all he could do was hold onto her tighter.

When they pulled apart and Finn opened his eyes, Rey’s were still closed, her lips parted, as she basked in the strange glow left between them. It felt like too long of a time coming, but the time didn’t matter anymore. It happened. They were real. This was real. Everything was real, and now that it was, there was nothing standing between Finn and the final realization that he hadn’t been wrong with too high of expectations. _This_ was real. Everything he’d ever thought possible had culminated in one moment, one kiss, and one beautiful visage of Rey’s eyes fluttering open.

“We should go,” she said. “There’s still much to do.”

Finn laughed. It was just like her to be ready for work. “And you don’t mind what I said?”

“I think you should tell him, if I were being honest,” Rey gave him a smile. “If something happens further, you know, I wouldn’t be entirely opposed.”

“Oh, entirely? Come on!”

Rey was already standing up, gesturing that Fin would do well to follow her. He always would, and she knew that he always would. That was just how it’d been, since the beginning. Rey went. Finn followed. She wouldn’t have it any other way; it felt like having a partner, and that was the greatest feeling in the world. It felt whole. It felt right.

Everything changed, after that. It wasn’t just the grand feeling of lightness and partnership that Finn took with him into the new training session, but it was the _freedom_. It was how open everything became all at once, and the joy on Rey’s face only furthered to validate it. He wasn’t just pretending. He hadn’t just projected something hard enough to talk them all into believing it. He _was_ a jedi. He’d call himself that no matter how many times Rey tried to correct him.

Because he didn’t care.

He was overly excited. Apparently, it wasn’t all about moving rocks with his mind, but he’d _seen_ Rey move rocks with hers. He wanted to do everything she could. He wanted her to teach him everything she knew, and then—and _then_ , they could band together and teach each other. They could learn the ins and outs of everything, but they’d do it together. Trying new things. Being new people. The entire world had just opened itself right up to Finn, and Rey couldn’t have been more excited for him.

“Should we get you a light saber?” she laughed.

“Didn’t you bury those?”

“That’s not to say you can’t have one.” She walked through the grass, off towards where the cliff tapered down to the edge. Finn followed her, unsure of what else he was supposed to do.

“You alright?” he sat down beside her, reaching out to take her hand in his—he could do that now. He could feel the chill of her skin, the size of her hand, and he could hold her.

“I was ready to give up,” she admitted. “You can’t imagine what it took to finally take down Palpatine. If Ben hadn’t been there, I don’t think I would have come back. No, I’m sure I wouldn’t have. It was just a lot to take in.” Rey looked over to Finn, who had the softest smile on his face. It calmed her, all at once. She felt _alright_ to lean against his shoulder and close her eyes, to let down her defenses and disappear for a moment.

“You’ve changed that,” Rey whispered. “Maybe I haven’t any real reason to go dig my light saber back up, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see this through with you until the end.”

Finn put his arm around her. Because he could. Because they could _do_ this now. “No other teacher I’d rather have,” he said, and it meant more than he would ever know.

Their miniature vacation wouldn’t be complete until _they_ were complete. After the training for the day was done, and Finn and Rey had watched the sunset sitting on that cliff, it was time to go back to the Falcon for one more emotional expenditure for the day. For this one, Finn wouldn’t have to be alone. He would have Rey’s support with him, and even her excitement and enthusiasm. It was hard to imagine any sort of relationship with a man like Poe and _not_ be overcome with excitement and enthusiasm.

Finn wasn’t sure if his shakes were from that or from the nervousness, but this wasn’t something he could put off. Change didn’t happen in a day, but he was riding a high from finally just doing the things that scared him—the things that he knew he had to do. That were _worth_ doing. In the morrow, he’d go right back to keeping things to himself until they exploded out of him like they’d done in the past few days, but for the moment, he could bask in his own productivity by just _doing_ things.

This was, again, just one of those things that had the potential to destroy everything he’d ever really known and cared about, but he wasn’t going to sweat the details. The details were what stopped him for the first time, so winging it was just going to be a better idea for this. It was more genuine, too, to just walk up and have something to say. If he planned it out too carefully, well—details. He wasn’t going to worry about them.

Poe wasn’t pretending to do something, this time, when they found him. He actually looked like he’d just woken up from a nap, and it was already doing wonders for the dark circles under his eyes. He was, at least, awake. No doubt brought that way by an incessant growl of the stomach, but there wasn’t going to be a delay before dinner. If Finn didn’t talk to him now, he was never going to do it. He’d just have more time to sweat the details, and then things got complicated.

Rey sat off to the side, where she would be there to listen but not to disturb. This was something that they needed to sort out, and she just needed to be there and smile and assure them she was alright. If they couldn’t work it out, then that was fine, too. She did secretly hope it would work out. Never before had she ever considered something like this, but that strange feeling of wholeness that had just overwhelmed Finn had seeped through the air and right into her. She knew how much it meant to him, and she was intrigued.

Poe was a fine man, he really was. Rey admired him. Finn obviously admired him. It was just a matter of how Poe looked back. Did he see two obnoxious children? Or did he see two capable and growing adults who he would be proud to stand with? It was a detail that _would_ kill this, but Finn couldn’t think about them. Rey would, sitting off to the side and just watching.

“You two were out for a good long while,” Poe said. “You go off and master your magic?”

“I wouldn’t say master,” Finn replied, taking a seat across from Poe. “But—yeah? I mean. I can do it. Just have to work harder at it until I can do it like Rey can.”

“She’s good at it.” Poe had seen her take a seat off to the side and waved. “What seems to be the trouble here? She’s sitting so far away.”

Finn gave a nervous chuckle. This was going to be difficult, but if he didn’t do it now, then he would never do it. So, he took a deep breath and he just started. From the beginning. He’d felt Rey die, and at that moment, he knew that he’d never wanted to feel like that again. He still didn’t know what to call it, but he cared about her. When he was with her, he felt right, whole, wonderful—and they were. They were a thing. That was the first step: telling Poe that he and Rey were a thing, whatever a thing was.

The second half was that Finn had felt all of these things before, and it was through every trial and tribulation he went through at Poe’s side. It was the fact that Poe joking about a kiss as payment had flustered him. The fact that he hadn’t been lying when he said that maybe he’d even give into that. It wasn’t the fact that he was too selfish or too stupid to just choose between the two of them, it was just that there was no choosing. It was impossible to choose which feeling of completeness was better, because they were the same.

Finn had gone off into a long ramble about how he didn’t want this to come across badly. He would understand if Poe never wanted to hear about this again, but he did make mention of how Rey had seemed to already _know_ this was going to happen and be okay with it, if that was an issue on its own. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he was just crazy, but he’d been thinking about this longer than he’d actually realized, and now that it was really weighing on him as a future, he was frightened to lose it before he’d even had it, and then—

Poe had stood up. Poe had walked across the short distance between them. Poe had grabbed Finn by the arm and pulled him out of his chair. Poe didn’t wait another second before he took what he’d been asking for, and it wasn’t on the cheek. He pulled Finn to him in a smashing kiss, clacking teeth together in the pure rush to just have it and have it now. He had his hands around Finn’s face, and after the initial shock was gone, Finn all but melted into him, taking a tight hold of his jacket while they kissed.

When they parted, it was in a breathless, desperate flurry where the looks on their faces said that all they wanted was to go back and do it again. Rey was grinning something awful, behind them, because it was the same face that Finn had made at her when they kissed. They’d kissed much less intensely, but Poe was an intense man. It made sense that he would pour his heart and soul into everything that he did, even if it was something as silly and as simple as a kiss.

Then, Poe looked over Finn’s shoulder and gestured to Rey, smiling like he was struggling to maintain a laughter.

“Get over here,” Poe said. “If we’re doing this, we’re going to do it right.” He held out his hand for Rey, and as she stood up, she took it.

In one solid jerk, he’d pulled Rey right into him and all but lifted her right off the floor. There was something to be said about his flair for the dramatics, but this would be a first kiss to remember. Rey had her arms draped around his neck, her legs around his hips, and they just kissed. It was so much gentler than Poe had been with Finn, but Rey was smaller, younger—really, she appreciated it. She didn’t mind, every now and again, being treated like a proper lady.

She’d never lived like a proper lady. Everything had always been rough, in her life. She’d always had to work for the things that she wanted. This was a first glimpse at how maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t have to work for _everything_ anymore. Poe wasn’t exactly what she would call a gentleman, but he did certainly have a flair for providing.

When he set Rey down, it was with an untold gentleness that anyone who’d seen the way he’d kissed Finn wouldn’t have expected, but it had Rey smiling, her face a bit red. This wasn’t something she’d truly been expecting, but she wasn’t upset about it, either. This was a relationship dynamic that she could get used to. Between the two of them, especially. She’d never really imagined what it might be like with _two_ of them, but there were a lot of things she’d done in the past that she hadn’t ever imagined doing.

“So, does this mean we’re clear for take-off?” Poe asked, once their kiss ended and he’d finally set Rey back down to her feet.

“I think we should stay a bit longer,” Rey suggested. “It’ll be good for Finn to have the area to work more on his new abilities, and it might be nice to just consider it a holiday.”

“A holiday, huh?” Poe folded his arms, shifting his weight to his left foot. He shot Rey a smug little look as if he knew exactly what that meant.

“Yes, a _holiday,_ _”_ Rey insisted. “If you don’t like it, then you can leave and just come back for us.”

“Oh, if you think I’m letting you two do anything without me ever again then you’ve got something coming.”

Finn laughed between them, pulling them together to drape his arms across both of their shoulders. This had been so much easier than he’d expected, and yet, at the same time, it’d been so much more fulfilling. Just to add the icing on the cake, he stood up on his toes and planted that kiss to Poe’s cheek that he promised so many days ago, and it was worth it.

After their little informal get together, it was time to actually attend to things that needed to be taken care of. They were on a wildly lush island with plenty of things to eat, and that’s exactly what they would do for a meal. They could take all the supplies back and put them to better use. There was no shortage of laughter about how much they’d brought with them, and Rey had to own up for it.

They collected what they would need to make a fine campfire dinner and set up outside. Even though it was getting dark, the fire was plenty bright to keep them company. While they cooked, Rey enthralled them with the story of exactly why there were so many supplies on the ship. She’d been trying to avoid Finn, which had prompted a host of laughter when Finn’s jaw dropped in blatant offense.

“I couldn’t have been that bad!” he argued.

“Oh, you were. I also knew we had to wait, and it was easier to _do_ something while we did.” Rey shot a look towards Poe. “Someone was taking his sweet time preparing us for leave. A bit too afraid to trust in his command, I see.”

“That is not true,” Poe retorted, but they all laughed, anyway.

It wasn’t true in the sense of something purposefully done out of malice. Poe did trust them, but before this moment out here on this stupid island, he hadn’t known how to lean on them. Maybe he still didn’t know, but at least he had a start. He had a direction, and for that, he really only had Finn to thank. Finn had given him more than he would have ever thought possible, and it was truly a gift. Poe had _them_ , and he had, at least, the beginnings of a foundation of understanding his position better.

He wouldn’t go back to command alone, either. He’d have two fully fledged—not exactly—jedis on his team, and if that wasn’t the greatest thing he could ask for. If it wasn’t for Finn, he wouldn’t have any of it. He certainly wouldn’t have this newfound sense of peace, either. He’d been _enjoying_ this little holiday. He’d never felt so rested, so at ease with himself. That was bound to disappear the moment he returned to proper command, but for the moment, Poe was truly content.

“I think we should sleep out here,” Poe said. “Big nice blanket thing on the ground, you know?”

“Yeah?” Finn perked up. “That sounds like fun, actually.”

“Are you sure that’s not a bit fast?” Rey wondered.

Poe scoffed, taking that moment to serve up their wonderful little dinner. “Please. I just said sleep. Nobody’s really working to have raunchy sex out in the middle of the grass. What if the porgs saw?”

Finn snorted. “Oh, really? That’s what you’re worried about?” he nudged Poe’s shoulder and just laughed at him.

There were _plenty_ of other things to be worried about, but it was for another time. They had the blankets and the pillows they’d need to set up a little camp outside, and it might be fun. The Falcon was about the best tent that they could have, and the island was temperate enough that they didn’t really think they’d need anything else. They’d worry about it after their meal, which was quite wonderfully cooked. Poe would let that go straight to his head, because he prided himself on his wide variety of skills.

Of course, it was a survival thing. Finn and Rey knew how to cook, too. Rey even thought that she might be _better_ at it, but there was a certain niceness that came with having dinner prepared for her. Served. Just another thing she didn’t have to work for but got to reap the wonderful benefits. A freshly cooked meal. It felt, almost, like a _home_ cooked meal.

Rey had never really had a home. She’d been on Jakku because she thought she had to be. There was something freeing about knowing where she came from and how she got there. It’d allow her to let Jakku go, eventually, and think about something different. It hadn’t been home. She hadn’t enjoyed her existence there. But this, sitting around a crackling fire leaning in close enough that her shoulder was pressed to Finn’s and listening to him laugh, to Poe laugh, this was something that she could enjoy. It might actually be the closest she’d ever come to knowing what a home felt like, looked like.

It was overwhelming, really. Once Rey finished her meal, she was the first to excuse herself on the premise of going to start collecting the stuff they needed for Poe’s little slumber party idea. She did begin to do that, but mostly, it was just time alone for her to be able to think. She was going to have a home. She was going to have a _family_ , even. One day, maybe even in more than just feeling and thought. It was scary to think about, really, and collecting blankets wasn’t such a good way to distract herself. But it would work for now.

The only thing left to do was set up their makeshift bed for the night, right beside the fire as it started to die. It was warm enough without it that they didn’t need it to last the night, and the light would have just proved to be complicated. The only thing left after that was to lay down under the blankets and think no further than the next few hours, where they would all be in a restful sleep, together, where things didn’t matter. In the morning and the morning after, they could think about the struggles that they faced down the road.

In the moment, with the dying coals and the final darkness set over the island, tomorrow didn’t really matter. There would be challenges, questions, and heartaches, but none of those needed to be faced now. And none of them needed to be faced alone. Hopefully, with the right amount of support and smiling, it would all be so much easier, now. After all, they went back together.

**Author's Note:**

> 𓆏 Froge Bounces 𓆏  
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> 


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